Phoenix kicks off stretch of traditional ovals on 2025 schedule
After two superspeedway-style drafting tracks and a road course opened the NASCAR Cup Series season, Phoenix Raceway signals the first traditional stock-car oval of 2025. Some drivers have already built strong momentum across the starting stanza, much like Daytona 500 winner and current points leader William Byron as well as Christopher Bell, who enters on a two-race winning streak. Others find themselves on uneasy footing after the tight pack racing associated with Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, plus the twists and turns of Circuit of The Americas one week ago. Brad Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, and Ty Gibbs find themselves in the latter bucket, sitting 26th and 36th in points, respectively. MORE: Cup standings | Full 2025 schedule Phoenix provides a more stable, perhaps more realistic representation of what each driver and team can expect to produce over the remaining 23 races of the regular season. Its 1-mile layout is still unique in its own right -- a high-banked dogleg that offers an apron route to Turn 1; flat, sweeping corners in Turns 1 and 2 that lead to a short backstretch before the higher banks of Turns 3 and 4. But the drivers' ability to navigate each section of the oval while moderating the throttle and brake is far more comparable to the standard task they'll face in 15 of the next 23 points-paying events. "This will be a good measure to see, did we work hard enough over the offseason or did everyone else catch us?" defending champion Joey Logano said Friday, returning as the most recent race winner and Cup champion. "This would be a good way of knowing that." Logano backed up his most recent performance by qualifying second for Sunday's race. In fact, three of the 2024 Championship 4 -- polesitter Byron, Logano and Tyler Reddick -- qualified inside the top nine, highlighting the strength each team brings back to 2025. The lone exception was Ryan Blaney, who rolls off 12th Sunday afternoon. RELATED: Full Saturday recap But consider the fresher faces atop Saturday's leaderboard: The Spire Motorsports trio of Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley placed all three of their Chevrolets inside the top eight, as did fourth-place qualifier Josh Berry from Wood Brothers Racing and fifth-place Erik Jones from Legacy Motor Club. A fast lap Saturday doesn't guarantee they'll be at the front of the field when the checkered flag waves Sunday, but it does indicate their offseason efforts may result in improved performance in the new year. We'll know for sure late Sunday afternoon. From atop the pit box... What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday's race? Sunday's event in the desert marks just the third Cup Series race with a choice in Goodyear tire compounds -- a baseline "prime" tire and then "option" rubber that provides more short-term speed and grip but with more rapid wear. It's a relatively new variable that most crew chiefs have welcomed as another strategy alternative in their toolbox. "Absolutely. Anything they can give us to let me make decisions on the pit box and try to change up the outcome," Matt Swiderski, crew chief for Daniel Suárez's No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet, told NASCAR.com. "You know, if you're having an OK day, you get to roll the dice, try to do something different. I enjoy those options." Swiderski knows the potential benefits quite well. The last time that Cup Series teams had option tires at their disposal last August at Richmond Raceway, Swiderski gambled by zigging when other teams zagged, giving the No. 99 team a massive shift of fortunes and ultimately a top-10 result. Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile dogleg oval with short-track characteristics, is the largest venue to date where the Goodyear option tires have been in stock; the others were Richmond (0.75 miles) and North Wilkesboro Speedway (0.625 miles) for the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race. For Sunday, teams are allotted seven sets of prime tires (six race sets, plus a carry-over from qualifying) with traditional yellow sidewall lettering, plus two sets of option tires with distinctive red-letter sidewall markings. [caption id="attachment_461508" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]History tells us...
Team Penske will be the trio to beat Sunday. Since the debut of the Next Gen car in the 2022 season, no driver has led more laps at Phoenix than reigning (and three-time) Cup champ Joey Logano, who's paced the field for a combined 298 laps in those six races. Next in line? His teammate at Team Penske, Ryan Blaney. The duo has won each of the last three Cup titles, with Logano claiming the 2022 and 2024 titles and Blaney in 2023, all at Phoenix in the November finale. Logano starts second Sunday, and Blaney 12th. Blaney has still yet to find Victory Lane at Phoenix, but that could change in a hurry.